SehnevsSohnsTell them apart

Which to use

“Sehne” and “Sohns” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#22,136
“Sehne” frequency rank
#36,630
“Sohns” frequency rank
58766
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Sehne Sohns
Definition Band aus Bindegewebe zwischen Muskeln und Knochen zur wechselseitigen Übertragung der im Bewegungsablauf auftretenden mechanischen Kräfte Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Sohn

Where the eye mixes Sehne and Sohns

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Sehne
5 ch
Sohns

Look-alike desk: Sehne vs Sohns

A purely visual mix-up. Sehne ([ˈzeːnə]) and Sohns ([zoːns]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58766, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Sehne is recorded at frequency rank #22,136, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈzeːnə]. Sohns is at rank #36,630, tagged as anoun, pronounced [zoːns].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 58766, this pair ranks #850,131 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Sehne vs Sohns

Shared letters: hns. Private to "Sehne": e. Private to "Sohns": o.

"Sehne" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Sohns" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sehneeshne · sehhne · senhe · shene · ssehne
  • Sohnsoshns · shons · sohhns · sohnns · sohnss · sohsn · sonhs · ssohns

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Sehne" and "Sohns" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈzeːnə] versus [zoːns]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Sehne" or "Sohns" show up more?
"Sehne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,136 in our German list, against #36,630 for "Sohns". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Sehne" and "Sohns" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Sehne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Sohns" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #850,131 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Sehne" and "Sohns" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sohns vs Soho". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #850,131 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list